The Tory government in London is to push ahead with a decision to scrap
its Human Rights Act as part of its ‘Brexit’ agenda to drag the north of
Ireland and Scotland out of the European Union.

Described as “the most authoritarian and regressive decision taken by a
UK government in modern history”, the decision means that those in the
north of Ireland will lose the ability to defend themselves in Crown
courts under the basic rights granted to them by the European Convention
on Human Rights.

These include the right to life, the prohibition of torture and inhuman
treatment, the right to liberty and freedom, the right to a fair trial,
freedom of thought and religion, free speech, peaceful protest, and
protection against discrimination.

It had been suggested that the Human Rights Act would remain following
the EU referendum in Britain. However, Britain’s ‘Justice’ Secretary,
Liz Truss (pictured), has now gone on record to state that she fully intends to
deliver the Conservative pledge to end the European Human Rights Act.
“We are committed to that. That is a manifesto commitment,” she said
last week.

These rights underpin the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement in the north
of Ireland, but are to be replaced by a pick-and-mix Bill of rights
drafted by the Tory government which offer no recourse to European
courts.

Sinn Fein’s Kathleen Funchion, Chair of her party’s Good Friday
Agreement Committee, has expressed shock that the Dublin government has
so far failed to respond.

“As applied to the North of Ireland, the Human Rights Act provides
essential safeguards and is a central element of the Good Friday
Agreement,” Ms Funchion said. “Any move to end the Act would be a
unilateral contravention of the Good Friday Agreement. The Irish
Government must, as a matter of urgency, make clear to the British
Government that it will not countenance the British government’s
attempts to walk away from their commitments under the Agreement.

“The Irish Government cannot be silent on this issue. As co-equal
guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement they must act to safeguard the
agreements.”

Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson warned last month that a repeal of the
act could have repercussions for the peace process. She said he party
had legal advice that a repeal of the Human Rights Act risked not only
breaching the Good Friday Agreement, but would also “lead to a loss of
faith in the British government’s commitment to the peace process”.